


Such a good challenge

by OneWithoutAName



Series: Thieves AU [1]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - Thieves, But only because Charles likes them, Erik uses cheesy pick-up lines, I Don't Even Know, Injury, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 15:59:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8807161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneWithoutAName/pseuds/OneWithoutAName
Summary: Erik and Charles are outlaws living in 1870’s America. They have done this for years now, but this is the most daring job they’ve ever tried. Only a fool would try to rob the most secure bank in America… in the middle of the day. Well, good for their client that both of them love a good challenge. And that the bank has metal locks and doors.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, you know that you are deep in the ship when you start having dreams about it… This fic is inspired by a dream I had where these two were thieves. I just couldn’t help myself >-< Hope you like it ;) They are not so fluent with their powers in this au. They have the potential, but they just haven’t had so much practice.  
> I don’t own these characters, but all mistakes are mine.

“This was a terrible idea.” Erik muttered under his breath as he leant against the wall, trying to seem normal. Street before him was busy, filled with wagons pulled by horses and people walking between them.

“Oh don’t be so grumpy. Besides you already agreed to this so no backing off now.” Charles said in light tone, standing beside him, also leaning against the wall. He had always been the optimistic one of them.

“I did and honestly I don’t know why. If I didn’t know better I would say that you used your mind tricks on me.” Erik said as he sized up the bank they were about to rob, well certain jewels it held in its well-guarded vaults.

“It’s a good thing that you know better then. And there’s no reason to be nervous, we’ve done this plenty of times before.” Erik shrugged at that and turned to look at his partner in crime, his friend, his lover. Incredibly blue eyes were gazing back at him.

“Yes, but we’ve never done it in the middle of the day and this bank has higher security than any we have robbed before.”

“That’s exactly why we took this job, need to know if we really are the best thieves in America.” Charles said and gave him a sneaky grin. Erik lifted one brow at him but felt how one side of his mouth tugged upwards.

 

He and Charles had started professional thieving job couple years ago. Break-ins, bank robs, money, jewels, paintings, ancient artifacts, jewelry, anything their clients ordered. They would do the dirty work and the client would pay for them. Nowadays life was good, but it hadn’t always been. They both had been living in streets and stealing had been the only way to survive. As the time passed, they became better and better what they did and decided to make a living of it. First it had been slow, but as their reputation spread, more people asked for their services. With the fame their payment raised steadily, as did their bounty. Many had tried to catch them, all of them had forgotten they even tried or hadn’t lived long enough to tell about it.

 

This job though, it was something they hadn’t faced before. The client had been resistant that they took this job and had been ready to pay generously from it. The payment was at least five times bigger than their biggest before. Whatever these jewels meant to this client, she was desperate to get them before they were moved over the ocean. Erik had been little unsure about taking the job. They weren’t actually in need of money and robbing a bank with security this high was risky. Not mentioning the fact that their bounty would rise to the clouds. But it was a challenge and he and Charles both loved a good challenge.

 

The distant sound of arriving train’s whistle snapped Erik out of his thoughts.

“That’s our clue to go.” Charles said and after a quick nod he started to walk towards the bank. Erik waited until his friend disappeared through the doors of the bank and did the same. They didn’t cover their faces, it would have been downright suspicious. It was the first time for them to do this without masks or scarfs and no one knew exactly how they looked like, so there was only a slim chance that someone recognized them. Still, if this ended badly everyone would know what they looked like and that would make things interesting in the future.

 

As he walked in, he automatically sought Charles out with his gaze, spotting him talking to the guard near the door that led to downstairs and to the vault.

 _‘I can’t sense anyone in the hallway there, so you should be fine if you go now. Keep it down though, some doors of the offices might be open.’_ Erik heard Charles guide him.

 _‘I know how to rob a bank Charles, you don’t need to remind me to not to throw a parade when I’m sneaking down a hall.’_ Erik said and could feel how Charles wanted to roll his eyes.

 _‘Oh ha ha. Just hurry up, would you. This guy is starting to get annoyed and suspicious. I’m not sure how long he is willing to listen to my babbling.’_ True to his words, the guard started to show signs of annoyance, so Erik decided to move in.

 

He walked close the wall, drawing no attention to himself. He knew that Charles used his own powers to make sure that people in the lounge didn’t look at his direction, but if someone really wanted to do something Charles couldn’t stop them, so it was better to keep quiet. He made sure that the guard’s attention was on Charles before he sneaked past him to the door. He felt the metal of the lock with his powers and with a small pull it opened and he slipped in to the hallway. It was well lit and the carpet under his feet made it easier to move silently. Erik saw the stairway on his right, leading down. There were other doors along the way, but all of them were closed. Erik felt pleased by that, no need to be extra careful.

 _‘I’m in, everything going smoothly.’_ He reported to Charles as he started walking towards the stairs.

 _‘Good, I  will move to my place just outside the entrance.’_ Charles sent back as Erik started to move down the stairs.

 

He could feel the metal bars before he actually saw them and behind them a big, heavy door of the vault, also metal. Erik smirked, for anyone else, it would have been impossible to get in, but for him, it was like defense made of butter. He could sense an alarm system connected to the cell door. To open the door without setting the alarm off you needed two people with one key each. But lucky for Erik, he didn’t even need to bother with the cell door and just bend the bars out of his way and stepped in front of the circular metal door of the vault, taking the feel of every little detail of it. Too easy, he thought as he focused and slowly moved the little fragments of the lock until he heard a satisfying klick sound. After that, it was a bare movement of his wrist to make the wheel turn and a good pull to swing the heavy door open. It was actually easier to move large, simple objects than small, complex ones.

 

Erik smiled smugly as he stepped inside the vault, full of money bags, gold bars and securities.

 _‘Five minutes till the train leaves Erik, so stop boosting your ego and find the jewels.’_ Charles said in his mind, but his tone was only teasing.

 _‘Easier said than done, there’s a lot of junk here.’_ Erik said, looking for a place where the jewels could be.

_‘They must be easy to find, they are meant to be moved away from here this evening. Maybe in some kind of little box?’_

 

Erik looked around and indeed, there on top of some bags of money was a beautifully crafted wooden box. Erik took it and was surprised that it didn’t have a lock. Inside the box were five small jewels, each shining in different vivid color. Erik couldn’t help it but just stare them for a moment, completely taken aback. He had never seen anything like these jewels. Their colors were deep and even in the dim light of the vault they sparkled like stars.

 _‘Erik, did you find the- Oh, wow’_ Charles mental voice drifted away and Erik knew that the other man had used his eyes and seen the jewels too.

 _‘Wow indeed.’_ Erik said and moved the jewels inside the pouch he had around his neck. He studied the blue one a little longer however, keeping it between two fingers. He could feel Charles’ confusion.

 _‘It looks almost like your eyes.’_ He thought before he put the jewel with the others.

 _‘Isn’t it a bit corny to parallel eyes and jewels?’_ Charles asked and Erik hummed as he walked out of the vault and closed the door with his powers.

 _‘Maybe. Especially when your eyes are much more beautiful and bright.’_ Erik thought and felt fondness from Charles’ end of their mental link.

 _‘Erik Lehnsherr, are you trying to seduce me?'_ Erik could hear Charles’ smirk.

 _‘Is it working?'_ He asked instead of answering the other man’s question. Charles’ voice was teasing when he replied.

_‘Come here and find out.’_

 

Erik didn’t need to be told twice. He stepped through the bars, bending them back the way they were and climbed up the stairs. The hallway was still empty and Erik was ready to congratulate himself of the good job, but then the door to his right opened. Erik halted from the surprise, staring straight at six people in suits who were just about to exit the room.

“Who are you? How did you get here? This area is for staff only.” The short man in front asked and Erik shouted _‘Charles!’_ in his head, but kept his face blank.

“It seems I have gotten lost.” He said, trying to act innocent. He couldn’t take all of them down without someone hearing it. This wasn’t good.

 _‘What is it? Oh no, you got to be kidding me! We were so close!’_ Charles’ voice was both annoyed and nervous.

“Well, we need to escort you back to the entrance hall and examine you.” The man said firmly and took a step closer, other men behind him following his example. This wasn’t good at all.

 _‘Charles can you take care of them?’_ Erik asked, trying to come up with a plan.

_‘From this distance it would be hard to take care of three. You must run!’_

 

And Erik ran. He heard how the man shouted for guards, but he was already at the door he came in and threw it open. The guard looked at him with wide eyes as he dashed through the door and past him.

“Stop him!” Someone yelled and Erik saw two guards at the front doors pull out their guns and step between him and the exit. He was just about to snatch their guns away with his powers but before he could do that the guards shouted in pain and held their heads. Charles.

 _‘Keep running!’_ His friend urged.

 _‘I wasn’t going to stop!’_ Erik told and pushed a woman out of his way as he ran through the doors outside.

 

He went the steps down to at a time and made his way to the smaller streets that were almost empty. He heard the police whistle and shouting. Somebody was running just behind him.

 _‘It’s me. We have three minutes before the train leaves.’_ Charles’ voice calmed Erik down somewhat, at least they both were still intact.

 _‘We should be okay if we use alleyways.’_ He sent back, not daring to look behind him. Instead he stretched his powers and tried to find out where the police men were, feeling the metal in their uniforms. There were maybe three behind them, not too close but he and Charles had to keep running if they wanted to keep it that way. There were some on the main streets, but otherwise they seemed to be only ones.

 

Suddenly there was a click as a safety was removed from a gun. A gun that was somewhere up on the roof of the building left from them. Police officer didn’t carry guns. Erik looked up and saw a silhouette of a man who was aiming straight at them.

“Look out!” He shouted from an instinct and soon felt the bullet making its way through the air. As a reflex he changed the bullets way and it missed them. The man kept shooting and Erik knew they had to get out of this alley as soon as possible. And thanks for small miracles there was a chance to turn right. He grabbed Charles’ arm and pushed the man in to the new alley following him just a step behind.

 

Unfortunately, that took his concentration away from the man with the gun and one bullet made its way to his left shoulder. The pain made him lose his footing and he fell to the ground with a loud groan. For a moment everything felt mushy and cloudy. He heard Charles’ voice, but couldn’t understand what was said. He felt the younger man help him up and they moved forward, his legs working despise his mind’s slowness. They didn’t get far though when Charles pushed him sideways. He ended up sitting on the ground his back against a wall. The impact made his shoulder throb.

“Don’t move Erik! Don’t even blink!” Charles ordered and his voice made Erik’s mind clear. They were behind some boxes and sacks. Charles was on his right, holding Erik close to him with one arm. His other hand was on his temple and his eyes were screwed shut.

 

The voices of the police men came closer and closer until Erik saw how they ran past them, but one slowed down and looked around. Erik didn’t dare to breathe when the police man looked straight at them, no, he looked through them. Eventually, after a moment that felt like hours, the officer turned and started running after the others. Charles gasped for air as he opened his eyes. He turned to look at Erik.

“Let me take a look at your shoulder.” He said and tried to turn Erik, but the older man took a hold of his wrist and shook his head.

“Not now. We must get onto that train.” He said looking firmly at Charles. He could feel concern and fear radiating from him.

“But-“

“Nothing. I’ve had worse and there’s nothing you can do right now except to help me up.” Charles looked like he wanted to argue, but did as Erik told and helped other man to his feet. Erik leaned slightly to Charles as they hurried back where they came from and headed to the train station.

 

It took longer than Erik was comfortable with, avoiding people on the streets and the police men, but they made it. The train was already moving, but they were able to jump in one of the freight cars. Erik let out a tired breath as he sat down, his back against the wooden wall. Charles slumped beside him, trying to catch his breath.

 

As the train gained speed and the threat of being caught grew smaller and smaller, Erik let out a relieved laugh. The sound made Charles look at him curiously.

“We did it.” Erik explained, smirk on his face and it made the smaller man snort with laughter and roll his eyes.

“Yes, we did indeed. And now I should really take a look at your shoulder. Shirt of.” Charles commanded and Erik did as he was told and started to open the buttons of his vest. It was harder with only one hand and apparently it took too long because soon Charles kneeled in front of him and, chasing Erik’s hand away, started unbuttoning the vest.

“Always so impatient.” Erik teased and let the other man help him out of the vest before he started to stroke that silky dark brown hair.

“Well I am terribly sorry,” Charles said with overly polite voice. “-but I don’t want you to get an infection or-“

 

Charles couldn’t end his somewhat unamused argument when Erik took a firm grip of the back of his neck and lifted his head to claim his lips to a heated kiss. Charles responded immediately, but Erik could feel little bit of disapproval along with fondness and love from him.

 _‘You really want to get that infection?’_ Charles asked in Erik’s head, but made no move to pull back and ran his hands along the older man’s sides under the shirt.

 _‘Couple more minutes won’t make any difference.’_ He responded and licked his way in the smaller man’s mouth making him moan.

 _‘I shall remind you of that when you lay in sickbed later.’_ Charles said before he pulled back and tugged Erik’s shirt carefully off. Despite his slow movements Erik still hissed when the pain in his shoulder flared again.

“Now turn a little so I can see the damage.” Charles said, smiling gently and Erik had to suppress the urge to kiss him again and turn his back to the smaller man.

 

Charles clicked his tongue couple of times behind him before there was a sting as he started to clean off the blood.

“The bullet seems to be still intact. Want me to remove it or-“

“I’ll do it.” Erik finished and focused his powers to the metal inside his shoulder. Taking a deep breath he braced himself and tugged the bullet. The pain made him grimace but as soon as the bullet was out it became easier to bare. He levitated the bullet to his hand and looked at it. It was bloody, but he could tell that it was indeed still intact.

 

Erik could feel how blood started to drip from the wound, making its way down towards his lower back. But it didn’t reach even the halfway when Charles already wiped it away and kept cleaning the wound.

“It’ll need stitches, but now all I can do is bind it with some gauze and then put your arm on a sling.” Charles explained with steady voice and lifted Erik’s arm slightly so he was able to wrap the fabric around it.

“Told you it was a good idea to bring some with us.” Erik said, looking the smaller man over his shoulder and smirked.

“Oh don’t be so smug. We wouldn’t have needed it if you hadn’t got yourself shot.” Charles said pointedly as he kept patching Erik up.

 

“Speaking of which, the gunman, did you get anything out of him?” Erik asked turning his head, wiping the blood from the bullet and turning it in his hand. He felt how Charles’ hands stopped their work for a moment before continuing.

“No, I didn’t.” He said slowly and there was hesitation in his voice that made Erik halt and focus entirely on him. “I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t.” Charles continued. “First I thought it was the panic, but now I’m not so sure. I hid us from the police men after that just fine, so I don’t know why I wasn’t able to stop him, or even hear him. It was like- like his mind was shielded.”

“You mean, like you shield your own? So you won’t hear others.” Erik asked with a frown.

“Not exactly… I don’t know! It was more like it was behind sharp and cold spikes. I’ve never felt anything like that before.” The frustration in younger man’s voice was strong and it took Erik a moment to realize that he was also projecting. That wasn’t a good sign. Like him, Charles kept his feelings always in check, their powers tended to become unstable and dangerous when their emotions took over.

 

Erik looked over his shoulder. Charles bit his lip and looked sternly down at the metalbender’s shoulder.

“Charles, you’re projecting.” The telepath lifted his gaze, looking surprised before he shook his head.

“Sorry.” He said simply and tied the sling on Erik’s hand before he kissed softly the wound and pulled away. He moved in front of Erik and helped him to put his shirt on again. Before he could pull back again, Erik took a hold of his wrist and tugged him closer.

“Come here.” He said with gentle voice.

“I don’t want to hurt your arm.” Charles argued, but a tired smile settled on his lips.

“My right arm is just fine.” Erik offered and this time Charles didn’t resist when Erik pulled him sit down on his right side, arm wrapped around his shoulders. Charles sighed and rested his head against Erik’s shoulder closing his eyes.

 

“How’s your head?” Erik asked. Big exertion with their powers had their toil. Erik became physically drained, but Charles got head aces sometimes so bad that he passed out. The trick with the police men had had to been difficult.

“Not so bad, but it might grow worse over next night.” Charles answered and fished the pouch under Erik’s shirt. “At least Ms. Frost will be happy to get her jewels now.” He said and Erik moved his hand to massage his head.

“And we will take our well-deserved break. We need to lay low for a while.” Erik continued.

 

“No jobs, no clients, just you and me and our bed…” He purred in his lover’s ear, sending couple of images what exactly they would be doing and felt how it made the man beside him shiver.

“But Mr. Lehnsherr, such scandalous thoughts you have.” Charles teased and turned his head to kiss the older man under his chin. Erik let out a warm laugh at that. He had often teased the younger man of his accent and how posh it sounded, so Charles had started to use it to tease him back. After a stressing job like this, he was happy to see that the telepath was still able to return his teasing.

“I’m sorry, did I upset your innocent mind?” Erik asked, pulling Charles closer sending his own fondness and love towards him.

 _‘You know that you did that years ago.’_ Charles said into his head his mouth being occupied against the taller man’s throat.

 

This might not have been the most successful of their jobs. After this their faces would be everywhere. This would make their lives more dangerous than ever, Erik knew this. But right now, he didn’t want to worry about the future. He had his partner here beside him. They could make it through everything, as long as they were together.

**Author's Note:**

> That was it. Nothing spectacular, but I will make couple of more fics for this au. Two are prequels and at least one will be a sequel. This was still the original idea so I figured that I had to write this first. Please, if there was any big mistakes, tell me so I can fix them. :) Thank you so much for reading and I’ll update this series as soon as possible.


End file.
